


I think I’ve broken some trust

by Strength_in_pain



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Beck Is In Peter’s Head, Gen, Manipulative Quentin Beck, Peter Parker Has Issues, Peter Parker Trust Issues, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Mess, Trust Issues, Whumptober #12, Whumptober 2020, broken trust, psychological whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:54:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26964769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strength_in_pain/pseuds/Strength_in_pain
Summary: Peter believed him, trusted him, like a foolish little kid. But not again. Not ever. Peter grew up a lot thanks to Beck and he was never ever going to allow himself to be tricked again.Everything about the world, and what Peter thought he knew had somehow shifted. Now, nothing was certain, and no one could be trusted.ORMy attempt at a Whumptober prompt for number 12. Broken Trust.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Quentin Beck & Peter Parker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	I think I’ve broken some trust

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies. So I’m giving a few Whumptober prompts a shot because they were too delicious to pass-up. Don’t worry, I am still working on the Web Heads prompts and I’m also planning some exciting (more fluffy) things for November too. 
> 
> But for now, enjoy some serious psychological whump.

A small manila folder sat gingerly on the desk in front of Peter. He eyed it nervously before blinking at his guidance counselor, Mrs. Roberts, who began flipping through his file with her thick eye-glasses. 

“Peter,” she said, the name sticking to her tongue like peanut butter, “You’re a very good student. Your grades are phenomenal and so is your attendance.”

He could feel a ‘but’ coming along. There was always a ‘but’ that accompanied compliments. 

“But your behavior this week is a cause for concern.” _Called it._ “Tell me, Peter. Is everything okay at home?”

“Yeah.” He said slowly, raising a confused eyebrow. “Of course.” 

“Your Aunt is doing well?”

“She’s doing fine, thank you.”

“And how about you?” 

“I’m fine.” He made sure to keep eye-contact with Mrs. Roberts. So far so good. 

“Then what caused you to lash out at Mr. Harrington?”

Peter sat there for a moment, shifting in the plastic chair. His eyes drifted to the desk in front of him. 

“His assignment was... He wanted us to write about something personal. I didn’t want him sharing it with the rest of the class.” Peter admitted sheepishly. 

“From my understanding, Mr. Harrington assured everyone that the assignment was confidential, for his eyes only.”

“He was lying.”

“Oh? How do you know?” 

Peter sighed apprehensively, “He showed us an example of someone else’s personal reflection paper from last year’s class. So obviously he can’t keep his word.”

“I see,” Mrs. Roberts clasped her hands together, “Perhaps Mr. Harrington gained permission from the previous student whose paper he used as an example.”

Peter shrugged slightly, looking even more sheepishly at his black converse. “Maybe,”

he whispered. 

“Then why the explosive response? Are you angry at Mr. Harrington for something else? Does it have something to do with your trip to Europe?”

Peter swallowed thickly. Psychic visions of his school trip began flashing through his mind like a strobe light. The airplane, Venice, the Elementals, Nick Fury, E.D.I.T.H, Mr. Stark, Mr. Beck.

The feeling was coming back to him now. His worst fears made flesh. Mysterio dangling MJ over the edge of a cliff, Spider-Man being nothing more than a scared little kid in a sweat-suit, Mr. Stark dying because Peter wasn’t good enough to save him. 

It was like his spirit was out of limbo, and he was trying to make contact with the past. He could feel the water soak his clothes that day he met Beck. He could still hear the bell ringing in his ear as his head rammed into it. He could almost taste MJ’s lips against his before dissolving into a mist of green smoke. He could hear Beck laughing, mocking, taunting, pushing him onto the train tracks.

He was falling, pain shooting up his side, his leg was numb. It was the same feeling he had when the train hit him. He couldn’t breathe. Wind knocked from his chest.

A shrill in the darkness, someone was calling his name. He saw MJ reach out to him, begging him to hold on, calling his name in a panic. 

“Peter! Oh my God, _Peter_.”

The feeling was wrenched away as a hand gripped his shoulder. Peter blinked his eyes open not realizing he had them

shut to begin with, and he saw Mrs. Roberts kneeling beside him. 

Sitting up, Peter felt woozy and disoriented. His face flamed in embarrassment the second he realized what just happened.

“I’m sorry.” He stuttered. 

“Please don’t apologize for passing out. I’m going to call the nurse and then we’ll call your Aunt, okay? You just sit still, okay? Everything’s going to be alright.”

He wanted to believe her. But after Beck’s illusions, he couldn’t believe anything. 

He had survived the blip, and the massive war between the Avengers and Thanos, but Peter knew who to trust back then. Everything was black and white. The villains and heroes were obvious. 

But Beck pretended to be a hero. Pretended to be his friend. No. He pretended to be his mentor, a father figure, something Peter craved more than anything else in the world after losing Mr. Stark. He just wanted Mr. Stark back. Without him, there was this aching hole inside of Peter that wouldn’t close. He needed to fill it with something, and he thought Beck was that very thing he needed. 

He trusted Beck, but Beck was playing him. At heart, he was a manipulator, a liar, capable of cruelty beyond words. He preyed on Peter’s most vulnerable emotions to get what he wanted, and sadly, it worked like a charm. Peter believed him, trusted him, like a foolish little kid. But not again. Not ever. Peter grew up a lot thanks to Beck and he was never _ever_ going to allow himself to be tricked again. 

Everything about the world, and what Peter thought he knew had somehow shifted. Now, nothing was certain, and no one could be trusted. 

“Hey kid, how ya feelin?”

“Happy? Is that you?”

Why would Happy be picking him up from school? Mrs. Roberts clearly said she would call Aunt May. It must be another trick. This couldn’t be real. He was still hallucinating.

“Of course it’s me. Come on, I promised your Aunt I’d get you home, pronto.”

Peter’s head throbbed. He rubbed at his temples, trying to massage his ever-growing headache. 

_All this time, and you still don’t know what’s real. How truly and utterly sad. You know, when I first met you, I thought you looked smart as a whip, but I guess looks can be deceiving, can’t they?_

“Hey, is your head alright?” Happy leaned forward, ruffling the back of Peter’s hair. “Pete?”

“Yeah, m’fine. Just got a headache from falling on the ground.“

The school nurse rubbed his arm, “Can you walk, or do you want the wheelchair?”

“I can walk.” He insisted, shifting off of the nurse’s cot, and walking cautiously into the hallway with Happy by his side. 

He couldn’t sleep on the car-ride home, so he scrolled through Instagram, smiling at some science memes. But then he saw Ned’s latest post, and his smile faltered. Standing in a coffee shop was Ned with a few other kids from class. They were taking several selfies of them having a great time together and Peter wondered why he wasn’t invited.

_Peter, Peter, Peter. So naive. Don’t you know, you’re not really Ned’s friend. He’s pretending to like you because he feels sorry for you. Poor orphan Peter tragically lost his parents, then his uncle. You’re a classic sob story. You really think Ned could possibly like you? Look at you? Such an ugly looking kid. The only reason he might pretend to like you is because you are Spider-Man._

“Shut up.” Peter mumbled.

“Did you say something?” Happy rolled down the widow to the back of the limo so he could hear better.

“No. Sorry. I was talking to myself.”

Happy chuckled, “Tony used to do that too, Although, he would never admit it.”

Peter tried to smile. “I think I’m gonna take a quick nap.”

“Okay. Oh, and hey. I wanted to let you know, MJ called your home phone. May said she wanted to tell you that she’s sorry. I don’t know what that means, but I’m assuming you two got in a fight?”

Peter hummed, laying his head against the cool black seats. “Yeah. I was a jerk.”

“What happened?”

_____________________

“Hey dork, I got some food.” MJ announced, sitting next to him on the couch and setting a rectangular box on the coffee table. “I had to walk nearly two blocks to get it, but Mario’s pizza is so good, it’s worth it.”

“Thanks.” Peter said simply, turning to her with a tight smile. He picked up a slice of pizza and turned back to the Tv.

“No problem.” MJ tried her best to ignore Peter’s exhausted tone. They ate in silence for a while, watching Tv until it turned to commercials.

“So anything exciting happen in the show while I was gone?”

“I’m not really watching this crap.” Peter snapped, his eyes squinting as his peered at MJ.

“Hey, calm down. It was a joke. Jeez.” MJ defended herself, rolling her eyes at his attitude. She focused on the pizza, while Peter bounced his knee anxiously. This habit of his was becoming stronger and stronger since his trip to Europe.

“Everything okay?” MJ asked in a hushed tone. “Any Spider-Man stuff I should know about?”

“I’m fine,” Peter replied, his voice tense and annoyed. 

“Okay, cut the shit, Peter. It’s so clear that you’re not fine so stop being such a drama brat and tell me what’s going on.” MJ snapped more harshly than she intended.

“Oh I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I can’t NOT express my emotions unlike _some_ people who go around in life pretending like nothing’s ever wrong. Sorry I can’t pretend like I’m okay all the time.”

“What are you saying? That I don’t care about anything?”

“Well clearly, because you keep talking about TV shows and movies and books and school as if nothing this summer ever even happened.”

A mix of pain and anger flashed across MJ’s face. “Did you forget I was there too!? I witnessed Mysterio try to kill you. Hell, he tried to kill me, and half of Europe. So yeah, I remember. But unlike _some_ people, I’m not moping around and crying about it twenty-four-seven. Forgive me for actually wanting to move on and forget that horrible creep.”

“You don’t get it!” Peter shrieked, “I can’t forget what happened. You almost died!”

“But I didn’t.” MJ crossed her arms.

“You have no idea how scared I am that someday some villain is going to kill the people I love. That’s why I don’t like anyone knowing I’m spider-man. The more people who know, the more danger you are in.”

“I can take care of myself.” MJ snapped, standing on her feet and walking towards the door. “And I’m so sick of hearing you use that excuse. It’s getting real old, Peter. Real old. You know what else is getting old? This attitude you got going on. Go fix yourself and then call me, because I can’t be with you when you’re like this.”

MJ turned around and stormed off, leaving Peter alone in the bright burning blue light of his TV.

_____________________

Peter glanced at Happy through the rear-view mirror. “I picked a fight, she got mad.”

“That’s what happened?” Happy quirked an eyebrow. “Why’d you pick a fight?”

“I don’t know. Cause I’m stupid.”

_Finally, the first smart thing you’ve_ _said all day._

Within no time, Peter was in his apartment along with Happy and May. After May checked him over a dozen times, she let him go into his bedroom to lie down.

No matter how badly he wanted to fall asleep, Peter couldn’t stop wondering what Happy and May were talking about in the other room. He could hear hushed voices whispering about something.

_Most likely you, and how annoyed they are with you. God, if I was your Aunt_ , _I wouldn’t even put up with you. Have you ever heard of boarding school? Better start looking into it._

Peter pressed his ear against the bedroom door. 

“I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately.”

_Pack your bags._

“I caught him going through my phone the other day.”

_If you were good enough, maybe May would still love you._

“He’s a good kid,” Happy whispered, “I don’t know why he would go through your phone like that. But I agree, something is really wrong.”

_I like you Peter, you’re a good kid. Remember when I told you that bullshit lie?_

Peter clenched his fists. 

_Now look at Happy using that same lie._

He burst through his bedroom door, eyes wild, startling both Happy and May.

“You don’t have to pretend to like me, just to get close to my aunt. You two are already close enough. Stop pretending to like me!”

“Peter -“

“NO STOP PRETENDING. STOP LYING. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE.”

He slammed his bedroom door, and fell against his mattress feeling even worse than he did before.

_Congratulations, Peter. You have officially pushed everyone away. You’re all alone. It’s just you and me._

**Author's Note:**

> So... Mysterio really messed with our boy. 
> 
> 😄 Thank you for reading. :)


End file.
